NSF Visitor Support for the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility

NASA红外望远镜设施(IRTF)是由美国国家航空航天局(NASA)设立的一个国家天文台，主要用于支持航天器飞行任务和获得太阳系天体的红外观测。IRTF是根据与夏威夷大学(UH)通过其天文研究所达成的合作协议为NASA管理、操作和维护的。NASA提供了该设施的大部分运营成本，以及为执行太阳系天体项目的天文学家提供的访客支持。50%的可用观测时间被分配给太阳系观测计划。其余的观测时间被分配给强调太阳系以外的科学计划的观测计划。IRTF访问者对这些非太阳系项目的使用过去一直得到NSF的支持。这笔赠款将继续为IRTF的访问天文学家提供NSF资助的另外两年。从2012-2016年间，IRTF的观测结果产生了539篇参考出版物，其中395篇是非太阳系出版物。IRTF的大多数工作人员驻扎在希洛的保健设施，希洛位于一个以农村为主的环境中，有大量的少数族裔社区。几个代表性不足的群体(例如夏威夷原住民)是密歇根大学的雇员或密歇根州立大学IRTF的学生。IRTF通过三个主要项目：宇宙之旅、伊米洛亚天文中心和Maunakea学者项目，为希洛社区内的教育和公共宣传做出贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a national astronomical observatory primarily to support spacecraft missions and to obtain infrared observations of Solar System objects. The IRTF is managed, operated and maintained for NASA under a Cooperative Agreement with the University of Hawaii (UH) through its Institute for Astronomy. NASA provides the majority of the operating cost of the facility as well as visitor support for the astronomers carrying out programs focused on Solar System objects. Fifty percent of the available observing time is allocated to Solar System observing programs. The rest of the observing time is allocated to observational programs emphasizing scientific programs outside the Solar System. The IRTF visitor use for these non-Solar System programs has been supported by the NSF in the past. This grant will continue the NSF funding support for visiting astronomers for the IRTF for an additional two years.From 2012-2016, 539 refereed publications have resulted from IRTF observations, of which 395 are non-Solar System publications. Most of the IRTF staff is based at the UH facilities in Hilo, situated in a largely rural setting with large minority communities. Several underrepresented groups (e.g., native Hawaiian) are employees of UH or are UH students with the IRTF. The IRTF contributes to educational and public outreach within the Hilo community through three major programs: Journey through the Universe, the Imiloa Astronomy Center, and the Maunakea Scholars Program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.